New resort in paradise is just 15 minutes from an international airport

It’s uniquely beautiful and the epitome of honeymoon romance, but there’s no getting around it – the Maldives is an expensive destination.

The things that tend to make prices go down are in place – plenty of competition with seemingly never-ending resort openings and visitation numbers hitting pre-COVID-19 levels in the first quarter of this year. But the very things that make it so attractive – those glittering aqua expanses and isolated white-sand islands – makes operations pricey, along with limited resources, taxes and environmental measures.

And then there are the flights – while some resorts at the high-end build air transfers in, domestic travel is expensive.

However, a new resort opening in November at least cuts the expense of those intra-country airfares.

SO/ Maldives lies in Emboodhoo Lagoon, a 15-minute speedboat ride from Male’s Velana International Airport – no air transfer necessary.

The 80-villa resort is family-friendly, with eight categories of accommodation, all with private pools, and all spacious, ranging from the 120-square-metre lagoon water pool villas to a three-bedroom ocean water pool atelier which gives 330 square metres of space.

There’s also the 238-square-metre family beach pool villa with capsule category, the latter being a sleep pod for the kids.

The SO/ brand, begun as a funkier, fashion-driven little sister to Accor’s Sofitel in 2011, is now under the auspices of Ennismore. It’s a joint venture between London-based entrepreneur Sharan Pasricha and Accor.